There they are! Your PiBoIdMo ideas! Staring at you with perky eyebrows and expectant smiles and wiggling like puppies.

Now, whatddya DO with ’em?!

Your 30 ideas all have potential for something. (Except that 11:59 PM idea about the talking toilet. Let that one go.)

Your 29 ideas all have potential for something. But no matter how rockin’ each of them may be, you really can’t develop more than a few of them into picture book manuscripts at the same time. And you don’t know to choose just two or three to focus on now.

So you try my patented Idea Herding Method® and bang your head on the table*, causing most of your PiBoIdMo ideas to run and dive into various folders in your brain:

Possible Future Manuscript Ideas

Possible Tweet/Post/Social-Media-of-Your-Choice Ideas

Possibly Too Weird To Share With Anyone Else Ideas

*You agree that Ame shall not be held responsible for damage to your forehead—or table—and acknowledge that suing Ame would be pointless as she spends all her money on books and candy.

These hiding-in-folders ideas aren’t gone gone. They’ll probably peek out to say, “Howdy!” from time to time. (And the ideas in the last folder are bound to pop out and create Very Embarrassing Moments at parties. Nuthin’ you can do.)

But a few of your PiBoIdMo ideas don’t run away. They rush over and give your poor sore head a reassuring pat.

’Cause they really like you.

And you realize you really like them, too.

So be a good host and offer your Special Ideas a little something. Like opening lines.

“I don’t have a door.”Really? I will be right over to investigate your freaky slide-in-the-windows-General-Lee-style home. And then I will find something in your home to tape your opening lines to:

Your fridge.

Your TV.

Your pet. (Sorry, Fluffy!)

Because this is the Really Important Writing Part: when you feel your Special Ideas can stand up to the Blood (paper cuts, yo), Sweat, and Revisions necessary to try to bring them forward, then they’re worth keeping them where you can see them—and sharing with the Special Folks that supported your participation in PiBoIdMo in the first place:

Your family.

Your friends.

The delivery guy with the sideburns that look like Peru. (Okay, maybe not him. But definitely your family and friends.)

And with your continued work and your Special Folks’ continued encouragement, your Truly Special Idea has the potential to become an Amazing Manuscript—and hopefully, more.

So, get to taping! Then say it loud, say it proud:

“This is the Future Published Picture Book I’m writing. And here’s how it starts…”

GOOD LUCK, GUYS! I can’t wait to see ’em on the shelves!

Ame Dyckman is the author of BOY + BOT (Knopf; 2012); TEA PARTY RULES (Viking; 2013); WOLFIE THE BUNNY (Little, Brown; 2015); and HORRIBLE BEAR (Little, Brown; 2016). Her Super Agent Guy is about to sub her latest manuscript, previously taped to a purple door in Ame’s house. (The manuscript. Not her agent.) Find Ame sitting on the floor of her local library, or on Twitter: @AmeDyckman.

Ame is giving away a signed copy of TEA PARTY RULES (brilliantly illustrated by K.G. Campbell), and a TEA PARTY RULES prize pack: bookmark, sticker, button, and squeeze cookie. (If you win, do not attempt to eat the squeeze cookie. Ame says they taste gross.) This prize pack will be given away at the conclusion of Post-PiBo.

248 comments

Now that I’ve stopped laughing aloud in the morning darkness & caused the fluffy orange pup to cower behind the sofa in fear of having to wear my PiBoIdMo ideas like some ill-conceived pet haute couture, I must admit that the advice makes sense. Now to sort the wheat from the chaf & convince yon hound that I really do not intend to paper her with prose. Thank you, Ame, for sage advice and bringing laughter to an otherwise dull morning!

Oi. I’m resisting the taping idea, even though I totally see that it’s a great idea. Big breath. OK. I’m going to pick my favorite 3 ideas today and post them around the house. My favorite one will be on the fridge, because that’s the door I see most often. Thanks!

“This is the Future Published Picture Book I’m writing. And here’s how it starts”…my new mantra! I can’t wait to get your tea party book for my girlfriend’s granddaughter. She is sooo into tea parties!! Gotta run, Amazon calling to me 🙂

Oh!!!!!! your little “vent de folie” has come right up to me !
Now I really want to discover how you write ! 😉 I am laughing and feeling so much more alive then 5 minutes prior to reading your article ! 😉
Merci Beaucoup ! 🙂

Ame you are one of my favorite people out there and a role model! This post was hilarious, but in addition to the entertainment value there was a lot here that I can use to get started on one of my first piboidmo ideas! P.S. I bought Boy + Bot earlier this year and absolutely cherish that book! The relationship between boy and robot melts my heart 🙂 Keep doing what you’re doing Ame!

I was feeling a little guilty about the 28 ideas that I didn’t see much potential in. Thanks to you I can at least give them a first line. Then they can languish in my writer’s notebook with some sense of pride. And who knows?

I was feeling a little guilty about the 28 ideas that I didn’t see much potential in. Thanks to you I can at least give them a first line. Then they can languish in my writer’s notebook with some sense of pride. And who knows?

Yeah, I wrote an essay once about my son talking to the toilet. He swore it was talking back. Even bravely read it out loud at a writer workshop. Got lots of laughs but never went anywhere. Can’t find it now. Must have been flushed.

I laughed through the whole post–especially about the talking toilet idea and the General-Lee-style home. Some of my promising ideas from last year went out of sight, out of mind, so I think you’re right about posting them where we can see them!

ooOOoo…a purple door WOULD be nice… Great post, and I dig your chapeau, by the way! 😉 I’m ready to start smooth talkin’ my ideas, and my toes are crossed for that squeeze cookie! What a great promo – love it! I’ll be on the look out for your books!

I love the good laugh in the morning! Thank you. There is something very special about posting ideas in a public/”I have to see it every day” place…. it moves to the area of potential commitment. Love that.

Great way to start the day! This is actually a very creative way to share your ideas with all the people who keep asking, ‘What are you working on?’. I’m tired of repeating myself anyway. Just invite them over to your house, ‘Wanna see some story sketches at my place?’ or something along those lines.

Hilarious! And purple is always nice! I’ve used my over-imaginative kids as sounding boards — “nope. not happening.” Heard that plenty. But sometimes one or two may stick! (and without tape!) Oh, and can I tape my nose at work when I have writer’s block?! 🙂

What a great way to start the day! Thanks for the great ideas. First lines are important so I’m glad you showed us a fun way to get started. You’re fun and creative spirit shines through your words. Congratulations on your success and I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks for my morning giggle and the inspiration to dive into the ideas and rescue the ones with potential. They’ll soon be hanging around my office. Add a little tinsel and everyone will think I’ve decorated for the holidays!

Love the idea of posting my special PB ideas on a door or the refrigerator. Getting feedback about ideas is important. I think I will post mine with a highlighter, so the reader can respond in living color! Thank you so much.

thanks! I needed this! (still trying to get tape off nose) OK – so what you’re really saying is boldly tape our stories where no stories have been taped before… let me just pull on my red shirt and get my tape.

Don’t knock the talking toilet idea – it would really liven up those dull potty training board books! Thanks, Ame, for the super idea to tape up those first lines of stories – I’m going to try it. I expect my entire household to jump in with their own ideas for the story when they see the line (hmmmm) – we’ll see where this leads… (BTW – my daughter keeps BOY + BOT in the rocking chair by her bed. It’s a frequent winner of the bedtime story selection competition.)

Ame, great idea to get our ideas and opening lines out where we can see them everyday instead of hidden in folders (where they are out-of-sight-out-of-mind during busy days). I love “Boy + Bot” – I sent it to my 31 year old son who makes bots! And I just gave “Tea Party Rules” to my 7 year old niece for Chanukah and she said to her mom after reading it, “That’s a very clever book!” I wholeheartedly agree with her and am hoping through Post-PiBoIdMo to get one that’s mine, all mine!

Ame, I was disappointed that the patented Idea Herding Method would not open to a link. I need to get down to business and stop shopping for Christmas everytime I get on the computer. Thanks for the encouragement.

I’ve gone back and added details to some of the ideas in my journal but having the sticky notes posted about is a super idea. So much easier to capture the idea and pin it down before it flutters away. Thanks, Ame.

Starting w/opening lines is a great way to start to ferret out the best of the 29 ideas! I already took my ideas to an open mick – I had 24 @ that time & shared. I had folks write down the ones that spoke to them the most – so now I need to give them “legs!” Thanks for the great post!

How about this for the first line (or two). “Hey, hey, hey, don’t sit here. Can’t you see this space is taken?”
Oh no, somebody was in the bathroom. I looked behind the shower curtain….
You’re right, maybe I should let that idea go.
Thanks Amy for a great post. I’ve got four doors in my apartment. Figuring I can use both sides of a couple of them, that gives me enough room for five of my best ideas.

I always, always love to hear what life is like in Ame’s House of Picture Books. Now I’m getting set to lasso up some ideas and see if they’ll cook me an opening over the campfire. (WHAT? OK, FINE. So your post had nothing to do with cowboys. BE THAT WAY.)

Whoa! Good idea. Really, really good idea. I’m going to do that right now. *Pause while taping.* Yep. I do look like a pig. Oh, and while I have the tape, I’ll get those PB starter pages on the door. Thanks, Ame!

I followed the suggestion of one of our guest posters and have a small bulletin board on which I have tacked each idea for this PiBoIdMo. Admittedly, some I would not want someone to peek at for fear of their reaction. 🙂 The rest just may find themselves stuck on a door, the less seen side of the door.
Thanks for your good humour.

Very funny! (I, too, spend all my money on books and candy . . . but I digress.) Gonna try that tape-the-idea-to-the-door thing as soon as I find the tape . . . . (Looks like missing tape is a theme here, today,)

In all this awesome humor you so easily embody are some *fantastic* tips. Thank you for being so willing to share, Ame! And in such a way that gets me giggling so much I have to hold it in so I don’t wake up the sleeping baby beside me. I really think the first lines idea will help!

I think walking around with a pig nose and redecorating the doors is wonderful advice. Yup. I can’t wait to get started wrangling these wiggly puppies. I plan to write the next Tea Party Rules. Is that too much to ask? Now where did I leave that roll of tape……?

I’m going to pick twelve from my thirty-one ideas. Tape it on my bathroom door. After my shower (my think tank), I will tackle a sentence to one story each day. Thank you for the door idea. Let’s see if it works.

This is great! I’m such a privateer person and don’t like sharing my ideas until they are fully formed and aweosome. I definitely need to start sharing and bouncing ideas off other people to really come up with the best idea ever!

I’ve been waiting anxiously, day after day, for you to show up here and THIS is what you have to offer?! 😉

Seriously though–you know I love you—if anyone DOESN’T take you and your many taping suggestions seriously, they must have “talking toilet” for brains 😉

There’s just one thing I’m almost afraid to ask: exactly what KIND of tape should we be using? Of course, after the possible legal repercussions of the head-banging advice, specifying the tape may be “sealing” your fate! 😉

You are so darn funny, Ame! Love it! The taping idea is awesome~ especially for busy folks like me! It puts the ideas RIGHT IN MY FACE! No way to avoid them…the brain will work the overtime it needs to in order to squeeze writing into a tiny available space! Thank you!

This is great….love it!!! It is true..if you keep all your ideas in a notebook, you tend to forget about them or “put them away” in your brain, like you said. I love this idea and I can’t wait to tape my ideas around the house! Also, love the fact that you can be found sitting on the floor of your library heehee sounds like me! The best of luck with your book…it looks adorable:)

I almost missed this post! I really need more things sticky taped around the house, though I am starting to run out of surfaces. Also … post it notes stick by themselves and go well all around the computer screen 🙂 Thanks for a fun post!